Headed by the Minister of Economy, Luis Felipe Céspedes, and the Minister of Environment, Pablo Badenier, the signing of the Clean Production Agreement (APL) “Conservation of the blue whale and large cetáceans in Northern Patagonia, Los Lagos and Aysén regions”, within the framework of the SecondConference “Our Ocean 2015″ (“Our Ocean”), which is being held in Valparaíso on October 5 and 6, took place.
The APL aims at implementing a monitoring and whale-spotting system for blue whales and other large cetáceans in Corcovado Gulf, one of the most important zones in the Southern Hemisphere for feeding and raising this emblemátic species. The second objective is the adoption of salmon farming productive practices that favor ecosystem conservation as well as the prevention and mitigation of impacts in the areas of influence of salmon industry operations, encouraging collaboration among subscribing companies, civil society, the scientific community and public services.
This type of Agreement convenes and commits multiple institutions: salmon farming industrialists who are members of the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) -AquaChile, Blumar, Camanchaca, Los Fiordos, Multiexport and Ventisqueros companies-; Undersecretaría de Pesca y Acuicultura (Subpesca); National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca); Production Development Corporation (Corfo); General Directorate of Maritime Territory and Merchant Marine (Directemar); Blue Whale Center; Austral University of Chile (UACh); and WWF Chile, the World Conservation Organization. All of them led by the National Clean Production Council (CPL).
The Minister of Economy, Luis Felipe Céspedes, highlighted the relevance of this voluntary Agreement because, as a government, the value that the conservation of the blue whale and large cetáceans represents for the eco-region is recognized by developing, implementing and promoting a formal conservation and monitoring program in Northern Patagonia. The Secretary of State also highlighted those salmon-producing companies that are signatories and have “committed to adopting models of production that are responsible, both socially and environmentally, a commitment that translates into progressively certifying their farming centers in Northern Patagonia under the ASC (Aquaculture Stewardship Council) standard”.
Initially, the Agreement will last 36 months, although there is an expectation to maintain it for ten years with the intention of generating scientific studies and improving capacities linked to this issue in the country. The funds, which will reach US$250,000 per year, will come mostly from the salmon producers who are signatories.
Meanwhile, the executive director of the National Clean Production Council, Juan Ladrón de Guevara, stated that this Agreement is very special, since for the first time such a powerful public-private alliance is generated to protect the blue whale. “For our Council, cooperation, trust and voluntariness are highly efficient tools to face challenges like these and we are convinced that the committed goals will be beneficial both for the whale ecosystem and for the industrialists who operate there”, he assured.
For his part, the director of WWF Chile, Ricardo Bosshard, said he was satisfied with this public-private Agreement, given that concrete commitments were achieved by the salmon industry for the protection of one of the species that are priorities for the WWF network worldwide. “After WWF’s work leading the Salmon Dialogues for almost seven years, which sought to move the sector toward the adoption of better salmon farming practices, and which finally resulted in the generation of ASC standards, we have seen how the industry has adopted these environmental and social requirements. First, through the subscription of the Global Salmon Initiative (GSI) in 2013, committing to certify 70% of its production by 2020, and now to prevent and mitigate the impacts that this industry could produce on the large cetáceans found in the Corcovado area”.
The commitment of salmon farming companies
From the private sector they assured that this is “a great commitment and advance for the conservation and protection of the blue whale in Chile. There are many economic activities that take place at sea and we must ensure that all of them are done in harmony with the environment”, emphasized the general manager of Los Fiordos, Sady Delgado. The executive added that “the signatory companies will make an enormous contribution to generate science and knowledge about the life of these large cetáceans”.
Meanwhile, the president of AquaChile Companies, Víctor Hugo Puchi, commented that the participating companies will make two contributions: “There is a monetary contribution that will be delivered for three years, while the main action will be our active participation, with our logistics navigation chain, to report every time we detect a whale. Most of these cetáceans will be tagged, so the scientific community will be able to track and transform that into knowledge”.
The history of the blue whale in Corcovado Gulf
More than twelve years ago, Dr. Rodrigo Hucke-Gaete of the Blue Whale Center, together with the Austral University of Chile, led a series of research projects that allowed him to identify the Corcovado Gulf area as one of the most relevant feeding and parental care sites for blue whales throughout the Southern Hemisphere.
“This agreement will allow our scientific research to be considered for such an important aspect as the generation of concrete action plans for the reduction and mitigation of impacts from the salmon farming industry, which should be implemented. Likewise, this agreement will provide us with the opportunity to consolidate our monitoring program to understand in detail essential aspects of the life history of the largest animals in the world. This agreement can become an example worldwide of collaboration between the private world, public and academia”, emphasized Hucke-Gaete.
Over the years, research by the Blue Whale Center (CBA), the Austral University of Chile and other civil society organizations such as WWF and the Melimoyu Foundation, among others, have made it possible to generate first-rate information for the development of conservation proposals for the area, such as a network of Marine Protected Areas in Corcovado Gulf, whose first milestone was the creation of Tic-Toc Marine Park in February 2014.
Source: www.aqua.cl
